I was quite excited about seeing this at the cinema the other day. Combining two of my favourite things – period drama and ghosts, it, no doubt, had to be a winner.

Hmmmm, let me just say the intro – establishing the characters and their coming together was good.

I liked that ridiculously theatrical and ostentatious ghosts, costumes and mansion, who doesn’t want that in a Gothic Horror? Indeed Allerdale Hall couldn’t have been embellished any more in its grandeur. This is where it falls down. In fact, i would have been better had the whole wonderful, gothic mansion had come crashing down! For the plot, the story was weak and pallid against the setting.

The hundreds of years old house was haunted not due to a dark, disturbing past that spanned generations, but merely the result of one generation behaving badly. (Yes, murderously, incestuously, I’ll give you that, but still!)

Let this film stand as a testament to the fact that one’s setting must marry with one’s story and only then can the right atmosphere and impact come about.

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I’ve seen it on Wednesday. I’m not a big fan of horrors, but this one wasn’t that scary (well, after watching few Japanese horrors nothing is really too scary). It had few good moments, but I agree with you that they should work more on the plot. It was rather strange. But at least there was Tom… So I can pass all the other things and just watch him 😛